[Philimon]

I appreciate Aria.

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RE my last T30 mod:

Some imbalance. I blame it on my poor foam cutting. I am going to have to order more foams but in 1/4". In the meantime I will switch to felt layers in back of cup.

Definitely good move removing front felt, clearer up n down, more soundstage. Cymbals a little overdone maybe, but I also like them pretty muted. A little sibilant. Just dial back damping in back I think or switch material.

 

[RetroE83]

Hi all,

I’m new here, but I’ve been following this thread for a while now, gaining inspiration and insight on modding ortho headphones. This forum has been very helpful to say the least.

I thought I’d share some photos of my modded Realistic Pro30. I transplanted the drivers to a Marshall Major headphone chasis, added 2 pieces of 1mm craft felt of varying diameters behind the drivers, mass loaded the cups with blue tac, and affixed Chinese made aftermarket earpads for a Sennheiser PMX200 using blue tac. Unfortunately, I don’t have a measuring rig, but in my opinion the sound is night and day different from stock: I’d say the sound is a bit akin to my Sennheiser HD580 with tighter bass and a little less veiled treble; imaging and separation of instruments is quite good.

 

[Philimon]

Lightened damping by going back to 2# foam but with a layer of felt at back of cup against grill. I did this experiment already but with micropore tape. Next I would like to try only felt but multiple layers. However, I have a headphone loaner (ETA Gen) coming this week that I need to review so ortho mods will get put on hold for a bit.

edit: Removed felt disc at grill. Tad too bright peaks. Would remove grill cross bracing but that's a permanent mod on a rare headphone so no.

 

[GREQ]

As you can see also the driver front side damping felt removed. Why was this here to begin with? The stock original flat pads earholes were narrow, basically the diameter of the non-felted inner circle area. Was it there for the same reasons I tried doing that to T10? To unplug some of the driver front wave from the leather earpads? Well, T30’s aftermarket pads ear holes are wide enough not to cover the driver so then I dont need felt buffers. Or do I? Let’s see.

The ring of foam on the front of the RP18 driver has a very strong treble attenuation effect.
After removing the foam and using the same stock pads with tiny opening holes, the difference was easily audible.
This felt is critical when using the flat stock pads, or treble is too overbearing.

I would assume it has the exact same purpose on the T30.
With mods and deeper pads, this can be removed, but it's definitely worth bagging and tagging for full-reverso modding in the future.
I wouldn't discard it.

 

[Philimon]

Makes a huge difference. Adds air for sure. Exacerbating the one or two treble peaks though is whats making me reconsider. Certainly different damping or pads could change everything so I think Im going to order some hifiman pads. My current cheap hybrids are nice but a little thicker than ideal.

edit: Hybrids too thick. Switching to thinner velours sounds much more natural. Ordered another set in slightly larger diameter for more comfort. Skimping on hifimans. Worried the angled pads wont work well with the poor articulation adjustment of T30.

 

[Philimon]

Ehehe I do have another pair...but unfortunately, I misplaced the screws that are used to screw in the baffle, so I sent you my modded pair instead cause I figured a complete can would be nice.

Here (非洲花梨不带单元 version), but I had to ask the seller to customize it for me so idk if you'd want to bother using google translate.

Now I am kind of scared. How difficult is clay to remove? Sealed up against driver? Chances of clay sluffing off into membrane? Did you open recently to look for any degradation?

I appreciate that you sent me an RP18 complete with screws, but this mod looks iffy and possibly dangerous to driver (sluff and moisture).

Any idea on how long packages take to arrive? Tracking info is sparse.

 

[GREQ]

Now I am kind of scared. How difficult is clay to remove? Sealed up against driver? Chances of clay sluffing off into membrane? Did you open recently to look for any degradation?

I appreciate that you sent me an RP18 complete with screws, but this mod looks iffy and possibly dangerous to driver (sluff and moisture).

Any idea on how long packages take to arrive? Tracking info is sparse.

Actually the biggest problem with modelling clay/plasticine is that it can react with the plastic and make it extremely brittle over time.

 

[Philimon]

Yeesh. Youd be willing to exchange RP-18 @BucketInABucket ?

 

[BucketInABucket]

If it means anything I've left the mod for around 3 years now and it hasn't done anything in regards to the driver or seemingly affected the plastic of the cup

Edit: just remembered what it is, it's newplast which is non-drying

 

[Philimon]

YH-100, YH-1, YH-2

Notice they all have about the same ear hole size in the pads. YH-2’s smaller driver is more fully revealed. YH-2’s magnet hole spacing is tighter. Hmmm

Bottom diagram was posted by @gurubhai . Dont know if it’s his work but just referencing. YH-100 has very slightly more gauss compared to HP-1anisotropic. There is some detail about YH-100 magnet “wet formed” which Ive no idea what that means or if its unique to YH-100.

 

[Philimon]

If it means anything I've left the mod for around 3 years now and it hasn't done anything in regards to the driver or seemingly affected the plastic of the cup

Edit: just remembered what it is, it's newplast which is non-drying

Thanks for the infos.

Missing screws? You could've easily pulled from other headphone. Sus, sorry.

Any idea on average shipping times or difficulty of removing newplast?.

 

[RetroE83]

Here’s some photos of my modded Fostex T20V1. It has a warm sound and reminds me of my HD650s with foam removed from the back of the drivers: warm, present, forward mids and mid-bass presence that doesn’t bleed into mids; 3 blob soundstage, similar in size. Treble is sizzly, and bit steely but not harsh; it’s good but not super detailed.
Stock earpads are used; I had no lack with over earpads (tried Brainwavz HM5 angled pleather pads, Superlux HD662-EVO velour and pleather pads).

I had no luck using the stock foam puck as damping.

Modding Materials used:

-1.7 cm diameter black craft felt;

-3.5 cm diameter shammy cloth(synthetic?, generic dollar store brand);

-2 cm diameter reflex dot/circular price tag sticker;

-6 cm black craft felt;

-bluetac around circumference of driver with screw holes punctured onto tac

([1.7 cm felt on top of 3.5 cm shammy] on top of [2cm reflex dot]) on top of driver

6cm felt lines back of cup

 

[Philimon]

 

[Philimon]

YH-100 (left), YH-1 (right). YH-1 has some sorb from earlier mod. Switching drivers atm

 

[BucketInABucket]

Thanks for the infos.

Missing screws? You could've easily pulled from other headphone. Sus, sorry.

Any idea on average shipping times or difficulty of removing newplast?.

I did not think of that I'm a pea brain

If it makes you feel better I don't mind swapping with the other RP18, but it's also in worse visual condition, missing a badge and with a scratched-up part so yeah

Shipping times should be 2-3 weeks or so.

No idea on difficulty of removing newplast, like I said it's been a while since I've played with that specific RP18